AWS Solutions Architect - Training Class

69Stingray

All,

Within 60 days, I have an opportunity to utilize work funds towards AWS Solutions Architect Associate level training.

I would prefer to find a training program that offers the certification test or something more at the end of the course. Above and beyond the standard agenda.

Does a program like that exist for AWS?

I see the AWS endorsed training: https://www.aws.training/home?courseid=3&language=en-US&view=table
But, haven't found a 3rd party that seems to offer anything more than matching the AWS Agenda 1 for 1 (which is good, but I have $$$ to spend so looking to max what is offered elsewhere).

The only thing that I have found so far is: "Architecting on AWS - Fast Track" with Global Knowledge: Business and IT Training, however there are no dates.

Thanks,
Andrew

chanakyajupudi

The class that Amazon teaches is more appropriate if you work on AWS and are looking to certify. I have attended the AWS Architecting Class myself.

Claymoore

The Fast Track course from Global Knowledge combines the Architecting on AWS and Architecting Advanced concepts 3 day courses into a single 5 day course. The Architecting on AWS course aligns with the objectives of the AWS Solution Architect - Associate certification. That was the course and certification I went through.

As an AWS partner, we had the option of funding for training direct from Amazon or through Global Knowledge. Global Knowledge has a virtual classroom so I did not have to travel for training. There are other options. CBT Nuggets has an AWS course and Cloud Academy just completed their AWS Associate course. I used Cloud Academy for their practice exam and it was a fair assessment ahead of the actual exam.

The AWS and Global Knowledge courses include labs. I doubt the CBT Nuggets or Cloud Academy courses do so you will need to include Qwiklabs.
The Beginner track is a close match to the labs in the first Architecting course.

69Stingray

Readers Digest version: I took 3 day training, passed the test and all is good.
My Background:
1. No professional AWS experience
2. 10 years of SW System Eng
3. Been studying AWS for a few months
4. Used the 1-year free tier + completed many qwik labs.
5. Watched CBT Nuggets AWS Part 1 and Part 2 Training.
6. Absolutely liked the CloudAcademy training, great 7 day trail - but they spam the crap out of you.


Long Version:
My company is a AWS Partner and I wasn't able to take advantage of any specific 'benefit' of the partnership. So, I had to take the 3 day Global Knowledge Training.

CBT Nuggets: Is really awesome, I would highly recommend it. I got more depth (actually clicking, watching and doing) from CBT than Global Knowledge and its labs.

Global Knowledge Training: Overall, I thought it was a great intro or FYI about AWS. Was not much more than that.
1. 3 full days and night study hours was a great break from the normal day job and allows for late study nights.
2. Nearly all of the AWS offerings were covered, some more than others. And, I feel that we should have spent more time on important services, such as S3, rather than other services.
3. The 6 labs didn’t cover basic things in depth, and went straight into VPC and CloudFormation for some serious heavy lifting activities. We didn’t spend any time on the basic items that were covered in the lectures.

Audience: I'm 33 and was by far the 2nd youngest folks in class.
1. The majority of the attendees were very senior positioned advisors for companies evaluating AWS (for example, a CIO type from a large bank that drove the class crazy trying to get 1 on 1 special advisement in class).
2. Some folks that already knew and used AWS and were just looking to catch up on new service offerings.

Value: Go with a AWS training session, not authorized trainers.
1. I don’t think that the Global Knowledge training is worth the extra few hundred compared to the same training from AWS. I think an AWS badged trainer would have taken a few different approaches and deep dived into different topics. Just my .02 here.
2. Global Knowledge required a few extra windows to be open during training for propriety info. They used an absolutely ridiculous virtual book software to prevent offline copies. (You can PDF print the 650 page book, 10 pages at a time. And the printed text in the PDF is not searchable). The combination of those two proved very annoying. So annoying that I would not recommend Global Knowledge for these two reasons alone. Taking the training with a laptop (small screen) was challenging at times. #pixelRealEstateProbs.

Cloud Academy:
I used CloudAcademy.com (free 7 day trail) which had some really good content for quizzes and a 250 question 'cert readiness test'.
They focused a noticeable amount on Elastic Beanstock, Kinesis, pipeline, EMR, appStream, DevApp, redshift. None of which were on my specific test. I wouldn't recommend paying for the info if someone is trying to take the test - but great info overall. Over the weekend, I spent probably 20 hours going through all Cloud Academy quizzes and the cert test. I would NOT do it again, personally. But, enjoyed the free training.

My Test:
Did not have any specific questions about numbers (how many SNSs are free), JSON syntax, or API commands.
Did not contain any easy questions except for two easy ones.
Contained a LOT of VPC, AS and ELB questions. I would guess there were 15-20 were VPC (default, public and private). Seriously, VPC was way deep.
Recommendations for others who want to learn AWS: There is extremely limited 3^rd party info out there – so heres my approach in this order.
1. Watch the CBT Nuggets, Part 1 and Part 2. Seriously good. CBT goes way deeper into AWS, but its 2 years old so some things have changed.
2. Sign up for the free tier and play around (carefully).
3. Read the AWS Whitepapers (AWS | Whitepapers). Many times to pick up the small nuances of the services.
a. AWS Overview Whitepaper
b. AWS_Cloud_Best_Practices Whitepaper
c. AWS_Storage_Options Whitepaper
d. AWS Security Whitepaper
4. Watch the re:INVENT 2013 videos (yes, 2013 not 2014). Yes 2013 is older info but 2014 is not as technical and is more Use Case, sales pitchey (my .02).
a. VPC Overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoX_frLHbEs
b. VPC – Day in the life a billion packets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd5hsL-JNY4


Hope this helps.

techyneelesh

I have cleared AWS Solution Architect Exam a couple of months ago. Learning AWS can be quick and easy and can take as little as a few days up to a few months. But, the exact time it will take you to learn AWS depends on your previous experience. Okay, so that gives you a rough idea of how long you can expect to learn AWS. When I prepared for my AWS solution Architect Exam, I found that some basic elements are required to learn AWS. These are acceptance, training, hands-on time, bring in some experts, scale the learning, and certification. After researching so much about this and finally, I have chosen Intellipaat's AWS training. After 4 months of training, I have cleared the AWS Solutions Architect exam. This AWS Solutions Architect training was the most in-depth and comprehensive. Also, I would appreciate the trainers that they came with extensive experience and knowledge and had the patience to make each one of us grasp even the tough concepts. If anyone wants to clear the exam, you can make use of Intellipaat’s AWS certification training which was completely in line with the AWS Solutions Architect exam.